Pennsylvania Massacre Suspect Found Dead

  Montgomery County mass murderer Bradley W. Stone’s killing spree came to an end with a seventh death: his own.

  Stone, 35, of Pennsburg, died of self-inflicted “cutting wounds” to the central portion of his body, according to countyDistrict Attorney RisaVetriFerman.

  The intense manhunt for Stone, which started Monday morning, came to an end at 1:38 p.m. Tuesday when a coordinated team of regional SWAT officers, conducting a grid search and moving property by property, found Stone’s lifeless body in a wooded area in New Hanover — about a half-mile away from Stone’s Pennsburg home in the first block of Fourth Street.

  Prior to his death, Stone on Monday killed his ex-wife, Nicole Hill Stone, and five members of her family in three IndianValley communities, said Ferman. While awaiting autopsy reports on what one law enforcement official described as “the worst mass killing in the county, at least in modern times,” Ferman said that the six all died from gunshot or cutting wounds. A seventh victim survived, but is listed in “serious but stable condition.”

  Authorities to date have found no notes or videos by Stone detailing the reason for the multiple slayings or expressing any remorse for the killings, Ferman said at a press briefing late Tuesday afternoon at the county’s emergency communications center in Lower Providence.

  What is known, said Ferman, is that Stone and his ex-wife were engaged in a bitter battle over custody and support of their two young daughters.

  Stone had filed an emergency petition for custody of the young girls, ages 5 and 7, on Dec. 5 in county court. Nicole Stone filed a counterclaim on Dec. 9. There was no immediate disposition on those petitions although the court docket indicates that the judge ordered the pair to attend an “Our Children First” seminar.

  Custody records, like divorce records, are sealed from the public in MontgomeryCounty.

  The “horrific tragedy” that began to play out Monday first surfaced when a 911 call was received from a home phone at 123 West Fifth Street in Lansdale at 4:25 a.m. The caller hung up before providing any information.

  Lansdale police responded and found the bloodied bodies of two women in the home.

  The victims were identified as Patricia Hill, 75, and her daughter Joanne T. Gilbert, 57. Hill died from a gunshot wound to her right eye; Gilbert suffered at least one gunshot wound and her throat was slashed, according to information in a search warrant affidavit that was unsealed Tuesday.

  At 4:55 a.m., a resident in the 100 block of Main Street in the Harleysville section of Lower Salford called 911 to report that she had heard glass breaking and a loud bang from her next door neighbor’s residence where Nicole Stone, 33, lived. The neighbor said she also heard what sounded like three or four gunshots.

  The neighbor reported that she heard one of Nicole’s children yelling, “Mommy, mommy, no! I want my mom.”

  Looking outside, the neighbor said she saw Bradley Stone leaving his ex-wife’s home with the two girls. When the neighbor asked Stone if everything was OK, he responded that one of the girls was hurt and he had to leave right away, the affidavit said. 

  When Lower Salford police responded, they found Nicole Stone, who died from multiple gunshot wounds.

  Detectives also found a .40-caliber handgun on her bed. A records check revealed that the gun had been purchased in September 2011 by Bradley Stone, who served from 2002 to 2011 in the U.S. Marines and Marine Reserves before being honorably discharged as a sergeant. While in the Marines, Stone served a tour in Iraq, where he received the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal and National Defense Service Medal, according to the military. Stone also received unspecified physical injuries that would eventually allow him to receive full disability compensation from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He also suffered post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from his years in the service, according to court documents.

  Ferman said she did not know when or if Stone had ever been diagnosed with PTSD prior to the purchase of that gun as well as a 9 mm handgun.

  However, in criminal court records, Stone had indicated when he pleaded guilty to a second drunken driving offense in November 2013 that he had received both inpatient and outpatient treatment for his physical injuries and PTSD, for which he was taking medication.

  After investigators learned that Patricia Hill was Nicole Stone’s grandmother and Joanne Gilbert was Nicole Stone’s mother, and that Bradley Stone was the suspected killer, authorities went to the Souderton residence of Nicole Stone’s sister. Inside that home, police found the bodies of the sister, Patricia Flick, 36, as well as Flick’s 39-year-old husband, Aaron, and the couple’s 14-year-old daughter, Nina.

  They also found 17-year-old Anthony Flick, who had barricaded himself on the third floor of the home. Anthony Flick suffered a gaping skull fracture as well as numerous cuts to his arms and multiple severed fingertips, the affidavit said.

  The lone survivor in the killing rampage that took the lives of his parents and sister, Anthony Flick on Tuesday was listed in “serious but stable condition,” according to Ferman.

“We are hopeful he will be fine,” she said.

  The Stones’ two daughters and Bradley Stone’s current wife and their child were unharmed.

  Authorities concentrated their search for Stone in the Pennsburg area, although they switched their focus Monday night to the Doylestown area. That search in Doylestown Township was in response to a resident’s claim that, while walking his dog, he was approached by a knife-wielding man who demanded that he turn over his car keys. The resident reported that the man, who matched Stone’s description, ran off into a wooded area after the resident pulled out his handgun and fired several rounds at the man, according to reports.

  “At this moment it appears that those leads were not valid and so we have discontinued our search and follow-up in that area,” Ferman said Tuesday morning before Stone’s body was found.

  Upon learning of the discovery of Bradley Stone’s body, Montgomery County Commissioners Chairman Josh Shapiro commended authorities for “hunting down a killer” while protecting the public.

  “We are all thankful for their efforts,” said Shapiro. “This is obviously an extraordinary tragedy in our community and now the healing process can begin.”

  Ferman said numerous people have contacted her office, wanting to do something for the Stones’ now orphaned children.

  The Salford-Telford Rotary Club has stepped forward to set up a fund for the two young girls although details are not yet available, according to Ferman.

  The discovery of Bradley Stone’s body means Pennsburg residents won’t have to go through another nervous night.

  Gordon Kulp Jr., of Gilbertsville, spent Monday night fixing up a property along School House Road at the border of Pennsburg and UpperHanoverTownship.

  “I was worried last night,” Kulp said, noting that he was working on the vacant rancher style home. “I was using the band saw and then I would stop and you start hearing noises.”

  Perry Sweatt, whose property is next to the home Kulp is refurbishing, warned his friend to be careful Monday night.

  “I had all my guns loaded,” he said. “I was watching my deer cameras and as long as (the deer) were at the feeders, they were my alarm. If they took off running I was ready.”

  Both men said they were surprised nobody ever reported a gunshot. Sound travels up the hill from the gully where Stone’s body was found, past several homes.

  Mike Fiorito, 52, said he wasn’t nervous while Stone was still unaccounted for.

  Fiorito owns the Western Auto on Pottstown Pike. Stone’s body was found in a wooded area where several properties’ boundary lines meet between Pottstown Pike and a small isolated section of Fourth Street.

  “I am armed and dangerous, too,” he said. “I feel sorry for the people he killed but I am glad he did this because he is saving taxpayers a lot of money.”

  Hours before finding the body, police concentrated their search in and around Pennsburg, going door-to-door and yard-to-yard along Fourth Street and the surrounding alleys looking for signs of Bradley Stone.

  A command center and several armored vehicles were based in a large church parking lot on Dotts Street.

  Pennsburg Borough officials issued a statement in the afternoon alerting residents to the search.

  “There is currently a heavy tactical police presence within the borough performing a grid based search,” the borough said in a Facebook post. “They WILL NOT be entering any homes or businesses. They may however enter any unsecured outbuildings or garages.

  “There will be K-9 officers on patrol as well. They will be looking for signs of forced entry as well as any evidence of the suspect.”

  It asked residents who have concerns to flag down police, but to otherwise stay in their homes.

  Rich Hartzell, a forklift driver, said he was sent home from work Tuesday so he could stay with his son, an UpperPerkiomenHigh School student.

  He said the school, which he also attended, was right to close for the day. Even if Stone wasn’t caught, he said he’d be comfortable sending his son back to classes because, “they keep it secure over there.” If they don’t, he’ll keep his son safe, “just as long as it doesn’t turn into a Pocono thing.”

  Hartzell was making a reference to the 48-day manhunt in the Poconos for Eric Frein, who authorities say confessed to killing Pennsylvania State Trooper Bryon Dickson and wounding Trooper Alex Douglass.

  Hartzell said the two-day manhunt for Stone and the situation in Pennsburg was “very scary.”

  Police searched the apartment building where Hartzell lives, about two blocks west of Stone’s home along Fourth Street.

  With the manhunt continuing, Ferman held a press conference around noon where she expressed confidence in locating Stone.

  “We will find Mr. Stone,” she said.

  Hours later, authorities did.